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They say time flies when you’re having fun, and apparently it flies a little faster when you’re also working hard. We can hardly believe it, but it has now been one whole year of collectively being W A K E + L O O M! A whole year of working with incredible clients, finding just the right wallpaper, treasure hunting, soaking up good lighting, and creating spaces that become the backdrops for some amazing stories.

So as we move into our second year, this seems like a good time to reflect on how far we’ve come. The past year has been full of some incredible fun projects, and we’d like to share a few of our favorites with you. Each one showcases a different facet of who we are and what we love, and they have all been important steps in this journey that we lovingly call W A K E + L O O M.

#1 Virginia Highlands Home - Summer 2016

This was one of our larger projects of the year, it was fun to have such a large blank canvas to work with.

2. Santa Monica Beach Bungalow - Spring 2016

We love out West Coast projects! This one stole our hearts, we loved that our client was open to such bright colors and bold patterns.

3. Atlanta Beltline Loft Spring 2016

We really loved the masculine energy of this project as well as all the fun lighting.

#4 West Hollywood Nursery + Bathroom - Spring/Summer 2017

This was such a fun project for us! We loved creating such a dreamy nursery, bathroom and patio for our expecting client.

So with year one in the books, we know that there are so many good things to come! Year two is already shaping up to be its own kind of unique and creative. That being said, we would love to work with YOU this year. Let us create a space that fits your life, your style, and your needs. Just shoot us an email at hello@wakeandloom.com or call 404-654-0667. We’ll be in touch to talk about the details.

Hi Strangers, we know we are bad at blogging but we have something too lovely not to share. This spring we got contacted for a nursery and bathroom remodel for a beautiful home in West Hollywood. We immediately hit it off with our new client and BONUS she was all about us wallpapering the ceiling of the Nursery. I mean, that's soulmate status for us gals. We had a 3 month turn around to meet the due date so we immediately got our power tools and a case of sav blanc and got to work! (kidding about the power tools.)

We keep getting questions on bookshelf styling and since we believe in making all dreams come true we thought we’d share our thoughts. We also believe in a cold brew on a hot summer’s day AND a frigid winter’s morning for that matter, we don’t discriminate. But we digress. Today we are going to give you some tips! Tips and tricks! Who’s the lucky duck now? Your bookshelf is, that’s who.

We often stay up late at night wondering why they’re even called bookshelves. Eh? They’re for books? Kidding… we like books. Especially pretty ones. Now let’s get serious. If you had one more day to live and what you chose to do on that last day was style your bookshelves (that would be sad) but we would hope you’d follow these 4 simple steps.

STEP 1: LAYER, PEOPLE. LAYER.

We often like to wallpaper the back of bookshelves to add texture and dimension. But on the other hand, keeping it simps by keeping a crisp white background with lots of layers with contrasting textures is a good thing, too. Here are two contrasting backgrounds, one a moody organic wallpaper and the other a more minimal white.

Photography: Katie Snyder

Photography: Charlie Cho

STEP 2: PICTURES, MIRRORS + CHICKEN WINGS

(ok, not really chicken wings. but now they're starting to sound good.)

Next, you want to layer on pictures and/or mirrors that lean on the back of the shelf. Think of it like layering a jean jacket over a hoodie. It’s typically entirely unnecessary, but damn, you feel cool when you do it.

Photography: Charlie Cho

STEP 3: BOOKS, BABY

I bet you never thought we’d mention it. Now it’s time for those beloved books. Start organizing your books by size, color or subject. It really doesn’t matter, it’s all personal preference, as long as there’s a balance from shelf to shelf - feel free to break them up into sections. When we’re really feeling crazy we turn all the books around so you can’t see a thing! It creates a modern, minimal feel and then no one will know how many Harry Potter books you actually own. Start from the top shelf with your groupings of books and work your way down making each shelf feel balanced.

Photography: Katie Snyder

STEP 4: PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE

Just checking if you were still awake. The final step has nothing to do with The Temptations, but it has everything to do with accessories and fun accents. This is the very last layer of the shelf. Group all your accessories and one by one, place them on and around the books until it feels balanced. We are huge on plants too! Layer greenery on your shelves to create organic textures and make your best attempt at not killing them. Let’s face it, if it was a crime to murder plants we would all be able to live out our Orange Is the New Black fantasies.

Photography: Katie Snyder

STEP 5 – SHUFFLE DANCE

We are going to let you in on a serious secret. It’s the Shuffle Dance. It’s when you loosely bend your knees, hunch your back over and shuffle your feet really fast. It happens when one is excited by visual excellence. Often when we nail a bookshelf we stand back in admiration while shuffle dancing. Here is a caught in action moment of shuffling dancing after finding the most amazing brass hanging sculpture while shopping at TheJoneses in LA (one of our favorite go to stores.)

It all began on a gorgeous sunset, wine-laden evening in Los Angeles, California with family and friends. Oh wait, no. Nope. It was a random afternoon in York, Pennsylvania at an amateur baseball game with far too much Bud Light in hand, that neither of us really desired to drink (but we sure as hell drank it!). Wait wait wait. NO! It was actually a very special, black tie, champagne filled wedding rehearsal-dinner that brought these two high-class hooligans together for-e-vah. And it wasn’t even OUR wedding.

The rest? Well, the rest is ANYTHING but history. It’s actually a very current love affair. A love affair with pillows. And paint. And faux fur. Repurposed wood, mirrored shelves, never ending conference calls, African textiles, cross country flights, hairpin legs, bohemian anything, andromeda wallpapers, foot massages, vintage treasure hunts, sputnik light fixtures, and really anything that gets our twinkles in a dinkle. (we have no idea what that means.)

Anyway. Here we are. TEN years later with so many kismet endeavors under our respective belts that we’ve finally decided to tie our own special kind of knot. We like to call it, W A K E + L O O M. So much beautiful time in the making, we finally feel our official cue to bring our ardor to life. Our obsessions. Our fascination with all that we can make and find beautiful.

We dive in.

Wake behind, future looming. Our connection to all things past, present and future is what we are, and hope to be.

Teasing about the brass unicorn but indeed it's a new year and I have new things. For instance, the Motorcycle Jacket I received from my mother for Christmas. When she had asked what I wanted for Christmas I simply responded "I need jackets - Ya know, like, Moto Style." Fast forward to Christmas morning when I open up a fully loaded legit motorcycle jacket that weighs 30 pounds, has ventilation holes and all sorts of odd, secret compartments. Now all I need is a good pair of chaps and I'm ready to take on 2016. Thanks Mom!

NOW THIS!

Photography by: Charlie Cho

With this shot, please help me in welcoming my very best friend, Holly Conlan to our little team! This very space was carefully curated and designed by Holly herself, and is the kind of design that leaves you gasping for air. With this project, we are THRILLED to announce we now have a new studio in Los Angeles, California and will be taking on clients on both coasts! It’s a Happy New Year after all!

Photography by: Charlie Cho

The space Holly created in West Hollywood is bright, light and crisp. Minimal, yet still brimming with amazing detail and warmth, Holly focused on a less-is-more approach to create a unique, comfy space. Just take a look for yourself!

Photography by: Charlie Cho

I've known Holly for some time now and years ago when we were first getting to know each other I went to visit her home for the first time. I remember walking in and thinking to myself "Perfect, I'm moving in!" I also remember that she was wearing this transparent boho maxi dress and I could totally see her underwear through. Holly is from LA, so I just thought that Atlanta needed to up their fashion game. Turns out she had no idea we could all see her goodies. Lucky us! But I digress… I just remember her home feeling so charismatic, carefully collected with so much thought. Over the years I've worked with many different people on many different projects and her little home often makes an appearance in my mind. That space made me FEEL good, and I think that’s what good design is all about.

Photography by: Charlie Cho

Years go on, as they do, and Holly and I slowly realize we are oddly the same person. We often wonder if we were separated at birth. It has to be POSSIBLE. Holly has spent the years as a touring musician, releasing records and playing in bands around the country, as I quietly pop out two children and start building my design studio. It wasn't until very recently that we started collaborating on projects together. (You know when Oprah tells her whole audience that they all won a trip to Australia and everyone gets to take home their own pet Kangaroo named Bennie? I've never been a recipient of such a grand prize, but I would assume it’s a similar feeling to the one I got when Holly and I completed our first project together.) Bingo Bango... We've got a match! It's really a great balance… She often calls me Liberace due to my taste for opulence, and her minimal approach inspires me to chill out with the gold encrusted everything.

Photography by: Charlie Cho

If I know one thing, I know how to seal a deal. Deal Sealed! Holly and I are living the bi-coastal dream, and are currently working on an adorable beach house project in Santa Monica, California ready for your eyes by mid 2016!

One fine day I got a call from this lovely couple who had a really cool Great Dane named Wyatt. Wyatt didn't like me very much because I make too many loud noises, talk with my hands and possibly accidentally banged him in the head with a box when unpacking this fabulous wood ball table lamp. We've moved on, now Wyatt's a model. Just stay tuned, you'll see...

So, after accepting the project I was provided with a few non-negotiable requests...

Request one: They needed TWO couches because Wyatt (the dog) needed his very own full sized couch.

Request two: They needed to turn a frog into a prince and by frog I mean a horribly tiled fire place from the 80's into something that balanced and blended with the room without any heavy construction.

Request three: They needed a total revamp on a conservative budget.

Before we get to the images, I have to tell you that this was a very special collaborative project, and I think we nailed it. The collaborator: Holly Conlan. She’s a born and raised California girl with a dark side like myself except I'm from Georgia, not as cool. (Even though I'm really cooler) She’s made a living as a touring musician, but her talents don’t only live in the world of the aural - she knows how to whip out a room like nobody’s business. We’ve had a long history of drunken nights and way too many expensive shopping ventures, but when we get down to work, our diverse approaches to designing a room come together quite nicely, if I do say so myself. Check ‘er out…

Oh, but first here is what Holly & I look like, no before and afters here. Just plain masterpeices: